Page 66 of The Dark Sea Calls

“Tor told you about the Tarsainn dungeons, I take it.” I huffed, looking down at the glittering pool at our toes. “I don’t need to be handled with kid gloves.”

Elsbeth held her hands up in a disarming fashion. “I had no intention of handling you in any way, shape, or form. I’ll leave that to my brother.”

I snickered a bitter laugh. “What else did Tor tell you?”

“Something about your uncle being a rotten barnacle of a male who deserved to have his member chopped off and fed to the Siren Queen?” Elsbeth’s brow furrowed.

“He didn’t say that.”

“Well,” She shrugged. “I extrapolated. It was mostly a series of displeased grunts. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if I had such a male for a Shíorghrá. I love my brother, but his silence infuriates me. At this point, I feel he does it because he knows it will annoy me greatly.”

“No,” I replied. “Tor doesn’t speak much around me either.”

“He’s always been that way.” Elsbeth shot me a sympathetic look. “Kelpies feed on emotion. They feel so much of it all of the time. Tor has always known that he would one day be king. He has had to lock his feelings away since he was a foal. He isn’t allowed to show weakness. Tormalugh would never display an emotion in front of his court, or kingdom if he could help it.”

“And you?”

“I’m given more leeway.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I was always the spare and a female at that. I’m expected to be somewhat irrational and overly emotional.”

I lifted a brow. “There are so many ways that I find that offensive.”

“Me too.” Elsbeth’s smile dropped. “Tor will never offer you a handsome proposal in front of his court. He will never proclaim his love for you out loud. He will never show anger if you are dismissed or talked down to. He will deal with it, but he will never show that weakness.”

“Warning me?” I joked.

“Yes.” Her expression was uncannily like her brothers. “I want you to know what to expect. He cannot afford to have long conversations or emotional speeches. That isn’t the Kelpie way.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not much of a talker either.” I quirked a brow.

“You’re talking now,” Elsbeth pointed out.

Frowning, I looked at the Kelpie female with new respect. “I am. How strange.”

Elsbeth barked a laugh. I stayed silent, not interrupting her mirth.

When Elsbeth gathered her wits, she gestured to the pool before us. “Time waits for no Fae.”

“You first.” I nudged her with my shoulder.

“Don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone.” And I meant that. Not even Rainn or Tor, not wholly.

Elsbeth didn’t take offense to my statement and stepped up to the pool's edge. With a single step, she jumped in. The water swallowed her without so much as a ripple or splash.

Far be it from me to argue about the Twilight Lake and its eccentricities; I followed on her heels.

The pool spat us out near the surface, right by the sheer rock face of the cliffs that housed the Reeds. A wall of rocks so tall and sharp that they appeared made of glass, like claws sheathed by the water, revealed with every wave. As the water lapped at the cliffs, I felt my body pushed closer to the sharp rocks. I kicked, but the current was too strong, even for a water Fae.

Fear shot through me until a shadow passed next to me in the water. Elsbeth broke the surface, her dark eyes familiar, even in her horse form. I wasted no time gripping her sticky mane and pressing myself to her equine body.

Unspoken, we continued our covert mission under the water, dipping and weaving through the glassy rocks until we reached the open water to the front line.

I saw the hundreds, if not thousands, of Mer-soldiers. Their regiment of marching merfolk like a dark snake through the open coral fields, swimming toward Cruinn. Their colorful tails were muted by the water, a faded rainbow on the landscape.

Elsbeth nudged us closer, tossing her head to invite me onto her back. I had long since overcome my fear of being stuck on the back of a Kelpie and dragged to my death, but the thought did cross my mind for a moment. I swung my leg over Elsbeth’s back and allowed her magic to suction me to her body before she took off at speed—her tail spinning, her finned legs moving faster than I ever could.

We stayed close to the surface, hoping our shadows could be mistaken for clouds. Water Fae rarely looked up. They didn’t have cause to fear the land -Fae as the Sirens did.

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